Friday, June 28, 2019

Coastal Caucus Meeting on Climate Action Business Association Report

Representative Josh Cutler​ and I co-chair the Coastal Caucus of state lawmakers. This week we invited leaders of Climate Action Business Association​ to share some of the findings from their recent report - Businesses Acting Rising Seas (BARS).

BARS intends to help local business managers and others understand risks related to climate change and extreme weather events in areas such as emergency preparedness, recovery from disruptions, emergency preparedness, insurance planning, energy efficiency opportunities, and more.

The report also includes information about recent legislative actions such as the Global Warming Solutions Act and Governor Charlie Baker's Executive Order 569 which ordered the creation of a Climate Adaptation Plan. He has also directed the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to issue grants through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program. Our district has consistently been awarded important funds from this program.

As of last week, with the release of the latest round of MVP funds, 71% of the state's cities and towns have become participants. This funding is part of the largest release of climate change resilience funding for Massachusetts communities in state history.

With Representative Brad Hill and Representative Lenny Mirra.

You can read CABA's report here - https://cabaus.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BARS-MA-Final-Report-%E2%80%93-Web-03.14.2019.pdf